The Allure of Mount Fuji

People from all over the world, and not just theclouds or haze. It is said that Mount Fuji's peak
Japanese people themselves, have planned tocan only been seen clearly and unblocked by
climb Mount Fuji at least once during their lifetime.weather for ten days out of the every calendar
Millions more have traveled to Japan via Mountyear. That rare occurrence perhaps adds to the
Fuji tour packages to experience the worldmystic of the mountain.
famous mountain. Even though it is a dormantA more negative aspect of the attraction that
volcano, there are still risks involved in such anMount Fuji holds for many individuals is the power
activity. What encourages normal, everydayand control it has over the immediate areas
people to throw caution to the wind and attemptsurrounding it. While the volcano has been
to scale the mountain peak?dormant for centuries, geographical experts have
To first understand that, one must take intopredicted that Mount Fuji is due to stir with
account the symbolism of Mount Fuji in bothactivity in time. Tokyo and many other cities
Japan and across the world. The mountain volcanocould suffer a terrible fate if that were to happen,
is considered the tallest mountain in the country,and it is perhaps why there are also Japanese
with the highest point measuring over 12,000 feetlegends which have led its people to worship gods
in height. As with many other well knownand other deities that might be connected to
mountains across Japan, Mount Fuji has its ownMount Fuji, praying for their safety and peace.
legends that tell of its rise and fall, and permeatesHowever, Fuji-san is also an enabler of economic
the folk stories of the Japanese. This haswell-being, with numerous Mount Fuji hotels
cultivated both a love for and respect for thesurrounding it, not to mention in Hakone and
snowy peak in the people.nearby resort towns.
The extent of their admiration for Mount Fuji canPerhaps the final sign of how much the volcano
be seen in the many other smaller Fuji-sansmountain is revered in Japan is the sight of its
sprinkled all across Japan. These are all smaller hillspeak shown on the country's 1,000 yen note. It is
or mountain peaks named after the originalalso the most common denomination of the
volcano. There have also been many origamiJapanese currency, and perhaps symbolic of the
books that have taught avid paper folders how toimportance of Mount Fuji in the people's psyche
create a likeness of Mount Fuji using the art form.for it to be used in such a way. The life and
The emblem of Japan even dominates thedeath of millions of Japanese are held in the cradle
country's landscape, with a large portion of theof Mount Fuji's existence, and it is therefore hard
west of Tokyo taken up by its splendid view.to ignore the allure and attraction the beautiful
Mount Fuji is known to be an extremely shymountain peak has throughout history.
mountain, with its peak often smothered by